I would like you to know about medical marijuana for
cancer. In her late 30s, my wife was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, stage
4a. It was a 6 cm tumor that had grown around the hepatic artery and portal
vein.
At first I thought marijuana was just for nausea
caused by her chemo, but then I found a study in the journal Cancer Research
(July 1, 2006). It showed that cannabinoids specifically fight pancreatic tumor
cells.
I changed her diet and started her on a regimen and
she is now cancer free. The regimen is being studied at the University of
Wisconsin. I hope others can benefit from medical marijuana.
(From
PeoplesFarmacy
Message Board)
You should be wondering
why I am bringing up this non-scientific, questionable statement from the message
board, placing in the spotlight the illegal drug, which is prohibited by
Federal Laws (creating legal controversies with some State Laws on Medical
Marijuana). That is true, there are multiple anecdotal statements on the Web, referring
to the miraculous cures for cancer. Most of them have no scientific proof, some
may be as good as any placebo. However, Marijuana is different. There were
multiple scientific researches over the centuries, in spite on the ban,
supporting the viewpoint that its health benefits in fighting cancer cannot be
simply waved.
Let’s review some recent
studies on the matter of discussion.
Complutense University in Spain, 2006
For example, in the recent
2006 trial, investigators at Complutense University in Spain and the Institut
National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale (INSERM) in France assessed
the anti-cancer activity of cannabinoids in pancreatic cancer cell lines and in
animals. Cannabinoid administration selectively increased apoptosis (programmed
cell death) in pancreatic tumor cells while ignoring healthy cells, researchers
found. In addition, "cannabinoid treatment inhibited the spreading of
pancreatic tumor cells ... and reduced the growth of tumor cells" in
animals.
National Cancer Institute, 2011
The statement is supported
by the most widely recognized in the scientific community National Cancer
Institute, whose 2011 study in mice and rats suggested that cannabinoids may have
a protective effect against the development of certain types of tumors. During
this 2-year study, groups of mice and rats were given various doses of THC by
gavage. A dose-related decrease in the incidence of hepatic adenoma tumors and hepatocellular
carcinoma was observed in the mice. Decreased incidences of benign tumors (polyps
and adenomas) in other organs (mammary gland, uterus, pituitary, testis, and pancreas)
were also noted in the rats. In another study, delta-9-THC, delta-8-THC, and
cannabinol were found to inhibit the growth of Lewis lung adenocarcinoma cells.
In addition, other tumors have been shown to be sensitive to
cannabinoid-induced growth inhibition.
It was suggested that Cannabinoids cause antitumor effects by various
mechanisms, including induction of cell death, inhibition of cell growth, and
inhibition of tumor angiogenesis and metastasis. Cannabinoids appear to kill
tumor cells but do not affect their nontransformed counterparts and may even
protect them from cell death.
University of Wisconsin School of
Medicine and Public Health, 2008
Investigators at the
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health reported in
January 2008 that the administration of cannabinoids halts the spread of a wide
range of cancers, including brain cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, lung
cancer, skin cancer, pancreatic cancer, and lymphoma. The report noted
that cannabis offer significant advantages over standard chemotherapy
treatments because the cannabinoids in cannabis are both non-toxic and can
uniquely target malignant cells while ignoring healthy ones.
UCLA School of Medicine, 2005
This study is an
interesting example of the results being not what was expected by the
community. Dr. Donald Tashkin is a widely published pulmonologist who for three
decades has conducted investigations for the National Institute of Drug Abuse
and other government agencies on the adverse effects of marijuana and other
drugs on the human body.
Studies conducted by Dr.
Tashkin in 1990 found that marijuana smoke has almost the exact same
carcinogens (cancer causing agents) as tobacco smoke and that the concentration
of these carcinogens was exceedingly higher in marijuana smoke. These studies
are the basis for the government's warning in thousands of ads that smoking one
marijuana joint does as much damage as smoking four cigarettes.
Since it is well
documented that the carcinogens in tobacco smoke are directly responsible for
the development of lung cancer in tobacco smokers, government marijuana
prohibitionists reasoned that marijuana smoke must also cause lung cancer
because it contains even stronger concentrations of these cancer causing
agents.
To document a connection
between lung cancer and marijuana smoking, Dr. Tashkin received a very large
grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse. With over 2,200 subjects, the
research was one of the largest case control studies of its kind ever!
It is not surprising that
the government was not pleased with the obtained results and did its best to
ignore them as Dr. Tashkin failed to find any link between smoking marijuana
and the development of lung cancer. In almost every category studied, a person
was no more likely to develop lung cancer if they smoked marijuana than if they
didn't smoke marijuana.
Dr. Tashkin's study offers
some evidence of what might be happening. In all the groups studied, the smoker
of marijuana was no more likely to develop lung cancer than the non-smoker -
save for one group in which there was a small, but still statistically
significant difference. This was the group of people who only smoked marijuana
and nothing else compared to people who did not smoke anything at all.
In this group of people
the smokers of marijuana actually had a lower incidence of lung cancer than the
people who did not smoke anything at all.
This makes no sense. How
can people who are taking carcinogens directly into their lungs have a lower
incidence of lung cancer than people who are not? It makes no sense unless
perhaps the cannabinoids found in cannabis are such powerful anti-cancer agents
that they can prevent the development of cancers even in the presence of cancer
causing agents.
Data in Dr. Tashkin's
study suggest that people who smoke marijuana are less likely to develop lung
cancer than people who do not smoke anything at all. Since marijuana smoke
contains the same cancer-causing agents as tobacco and the only difference
between the nonsmokers and the marijuana smokers was their use of cannabis,
then it is not an unreasonable hypothesis that marijuana can prevent the
development of cancer.
Other Studies
More than twenty major
studies published between 2001 and 2006 have shown that the chemicals in
cannabis known as cannabinoids have a significant effect fighting cancer cells.
We now know cannabinoids arrest many kinds of cancer growths (brain, breast,
leukemic, melanoma, phaeochromocytoma, et al.) through promotion of apoptosis
(programmed cell death) that is lost in tumors, and by arresting angiogenesis
(increased blood vessel production).
Recent scientific advances
in the study of cannabinoid receptors and endocannabinoids have produced
exciting new leads in the search for anti-cancer treatments.
There is growing evidence
of direct anti-tumor activity of cannabinoids, specifically CB1 and CB2
agonists, in a range of cancer types including brain (gliomas), skin,
pituitary, prostate and bowel. The antitumor activity has led in laboratory
animals and in-vitro human tissues to regression of tumors, reductions in
vascularisation (blood supply) and metastases (secondary tumors), as well as
direct inducement of death (apoptosis) among cancer cells. Indeed, the complex
interactions of endogenous cannabinoids and receptors are leading to greater
scientific understanding of the mechanisms by which cancers develop.
The most interest part is
that scientists have discovered that THC shrinks tumors as early as at the
beginning of 70-s. In 1974 researchers at the Medical College of Virginia, who
had been funded by the National Institute of Health to find evidence that
marijuana damages the immune system, found instead that THC slowed the growth
of three kinds of cancer in mice -- lung and breast cancer, and a virus-induced
leukemia.
The DEA quickly shut down
the Virginia study and all further cannabis/tumor research, according to Jack
Herer, who reports on the events in his book, "The Emperor Wears No
Clothes." In 1976 President Gerald Ford put an end to all public cannabis
research and granted exclusive research rights to major pharmaceutical
companies, who set out -- unsuccessfully -- to develop synthetic forms of THC
that would deliver all the medical benefits without the "high."
Who knows, maybe if the
research has been continued than, we would have already weapon against the
cancer by today!
Summary
Almost any cancer
prevention by smoking pot – it is too good to be true. However, the positive magical
effect of marijuana consumption is difficult to continue get ignored. While the
future research is still needed, the fact that pot consumption has extremely
low side effects makes it a very promising candidate for the anti-cancer
breakthrough medication.
For those who are
interesting on other health benefits of Cannabis, read my reviews on Alzheimer’s
and Depression.
